Walking the Walk

A few months back, I wore some kitten heals on the blog and made a big ol’ deal about it. Granted, for a girl who has never worn so much as a heavy tread for fear of adding to her stature, it was a big deal. But sometimes—and all bloggers will attest to this—there can be a split between blog life and real life. For example, I’ll fully admit I look ten times more put together on my blog than I do off the blog. Frankly, most of the time I look like this:

But I DO always make a point of wearing everything I blog. The heels thing, however, has been a bit of a gray area. I certainly have more heels than I used to since that initial triumphant post, but I don’t really wear them as often as some of you may have been led to believe. That post wasn’t some magic switch that suddenly blasted away all my many years of feeling just a teensy bit too tall. Sure, I’ve worn them to a dinner with Matt when I know I’ll be sitting down quickly. I’ve worn them if I’m walking some very short distance to get a post-outfit shoot snack. I’ve worn them in my house when “I’m all up in the kitchen in my heels” like Beyoncé (haha, just kidding: I don’t cook and am therefore never in the kitchen).

But had I busted them out for a long night on the town in hoards of other small people? Nope.

However, that all changed a few weekends ago (not the cooking, the heel-wearing). My friend Sandra (who is also tall and oft mistaken for a Swedish volleyball player) organized a girls trip to Niagara Falls to celebrate her birthday. I had already thrifted an outfit for the event: A gray mini from the Salvation Army (that’s vintage but looks so modern it’s crazay) and some other golden accessories, but I was still without a decent pair of shoes. The theme of the night was “high roller,” and seeing as I would be surrounded by leopard print and sequins, I was relying on the right shoe to up the ante.

Well, guys, I quickly discovered it’s very hard to thrift statement flats. On the flipside, it’s very easy to thrift statement heels. For example, I found these edgy $4.99 wedges in record time at Talize on my lunch break. They’re pretty fierce, right? Except they are about 3 inches outside my comfort zone. But as I sat in that Talize, stroking these lovely wedges like a creepy cat lady, I thought “Dang Julie. If you won’t even wear heels surrounded by a gaggle of your tall friends, you never will”. (Yes, all my internal monologues are in the third person).

So that was that. It was time to walk the walk I promised all those months ago: I was going wearing heals, for longer than three-quarters on a hour.

Friday arrived. We took over three hotel rooms with the sweet smell of hairspray and cupcakes, and I laced up. I felt absolutely gargantuan, but pretty awesome. I was, without question, the tallest chick in Niagara. 6’4 and hella-proud. The other thing I noticed is that once you get above the 6’1 mark, people stop commenting! I guess at 6’1 people still think there’s a chance you may not know you’re tall, but at 6’4 their like “Daaaang, that girl knows“. That, or I’m just a little scary – like a yeti or a dauntingly-large sub.

In an effort to make sure I practice what I preach, I’ve since remixed those wedges and that dress a few more times, this time with a newly-thrifted Jacob vest and my trusty faux-leather leggings.

So, what’s the next step in this relationship? While I do feel like a certain personal goal has been fulfilled, I don’t see myself forming a long-term relationship with high heels. See, about four hours into the evening, my feet were weeping silent tears of pain. And while I’m all for feeling secure and confident and all that Oprah-love-yourself-BS, I’m not for willingly inflicting pain on oneself for a sweet pair o’ shoes. Because, let’s be real here, the heels might look nice, but they don’t give me a warm fleecy hug like my Snuggie, nor do they catch the crumbs from the pile of chips on my lap. And when you compare sore toes to warm hugs, warm hugs win out every time.

That said, my friends might hope I reconsider: Turns out 6’4 is the perfect height for giving a pretty great hug. I’m like a walking Snuggie. Just feed me chips and I’ll dispense free hugs all night.

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27 responses to Walking the Walk

Those faux leather leggings are INSANE and amazing. I am 5’11 sans heels, so I could not relate more. I already feel like a giant, go out dancing with all my short friends with heels and I basically am talking to the tops of their heads or bending my knees so I can even talk to them. :) Maybe I will give this heels thing another try. Or maybe I need to find taller friends. ;)

I don’t understand why people are so concerned about tall women. I mean seriously, who cares!? I’m only about 5’7 or so, pretty average, but when I wear heels, people give me the look of death, like “how dare you add to your height!” I just brush it off and convince myself they are jealous of my mad awesome ability to walk in heels.

But, I can understand feet weeping from the heels. There is no way around that.

You look totally gorgeous, love LOVE the outfit. Take it from a woman of 5 feet 4 inches, work those heels and be proud. I have always wanted to have your height and have the shoes in my closet to prove it!!

You’re awesome. Seriously. I loved this post so much! (Particularly the picture of you eating cheese in a snuggie and this line: I guess at 6’1 people still think there’s a chance you may not know you’re tall, but at 6’4 their like “Daaaang, that girl knows”.)

I know what you mean about thrifting flats vs. heels. I typically always find a fun pair of heels but adorned flats are a different matter… not to mention the flats I usually find are really dirty and worn out.

I’m 5’10” and used to be terrified of wearing heels. I hated being taller than all of my friends (guys and girls, and even my husband). It wasn’t until I started taking photos for the blog and realizing I liked the way they looked enough to overcome my fear of looking like a giant that I decided to start rocking them. Now I wear them pretty regularly and the comments have stopped slowly over time.

Love your outfit and lip color, and I think you look amazing in these shoes :)

Not directly related to your post, but: I haven’t been shopping in a ‘normal’ retail store since this year, and I’m more than ready to make this year full! Second Hand shops have provided me with all I needed, and I’m so proud of myself!

I just wanted you to know, I read this post with my boyfriend reading over my shoulder and we were both equally cracking up. He doesn’t totally get the blog thing just yet, but even he had to say “oh man, this girl is funny!!”. You’re one of my favorite blog writers, because you’re not worried to poke fun at yourself or look “uncool”. It’s totally rad. Thanks for giving me some good giggles.
–Erin
predictionspast.blogspot.ca

Yay! Be tall! Be extra tall and scare all those people who are too silly to appreciate you!

I have the opposite problem, being 5’1″ and loving my tiny stature. I like to wear heels because they are pretty, but not at all because they give me height and it really annoys me when people assume I’m wearing them to be closer to normal height. I don’t want to be normal height! There’s nothing better about it, except not getting a sore neck from looking up! Just like there’s nothing better about normal over tall, except the sore neck thing.

I’m not tall, but I hardly ever wear heels. I don’t have many either and they’re all pretty low heels. I don’t like painful feet. My boyfriend is also the same height as me, so if I wear heels he’s out of easy kissing range :)

Oops, read this days ago but only got around to replying now! I am also 6’1″, and I used to wear heels like nobodies business! I just liked how they made my legs look. But now I mostly wear flats. They are just so comfy. But it’s basically impossible to find cute thrifted or even sale flats in size eleven!

I’ve naturally grown up to be 6’4 barefoot, and find it tough to even wear an inch or two. Maybe I’ll be more brave and wear my height more proudly, us tall chicks gotta be proud of what has been given to us!